, 1887-01-11
SCENES AT THE BANK.
PATHETIC SIGHTS WITNESSED AT A
BOWeRY SAVINGS INSTITUTION.


Tragedies Enacted In the Struggle OF say
Ing Mites for Dcposit-A Curious As
sortnent of Persons in Line Early
Monday Morning.
BY common consent, not less than by
necessity, Monday is made the busy day.
Then the bulk of the deposits are made.
The bank doors are opened ut ) a. NJ,
and nrc not closed until z y. NJ. The first
few ~stragglers are firemen, whose engines
nre waiting "a water and fuel. They
draw their pay late Ill Saturday evening,
hoard it over Sunday and put it away the
first thing on Monday. What temptations
some Of them must resist in that thirty
four or thirty-ive hoursl Among these
early corners n woman appears, thinly
clad, hanging on the arm of her young
husband, whose slouchy look and shut
fling gait are infallible signs TINT he is
travelling the wrong road to reach pros
perity and happiness. Perhaps they have
o baby at the place they call home, and
She has left it that she may come here
with her hayward partner to sec their pit
lance put beyond the immediate reach OF
the grog shop. How she must ave
scheined and planned all day Sunday to
nv ANA btoA iAAfAA ~ ara 'AAtf hf'h AhCAAA
temptation, where she could play the
watchdog over their miserable treasure
until ii was In the hands OF other guard
iansl II the restless man wanted to 90
upon the street she threw on her shawl
and went with him; II he insisted on hay
Ing IA dram she took n pitcher and got him
beer with her own hands, and persuaded
him to drink 1t in his room. Not for an
Instant did she lose sight Of him, Nobody
knows whnt stratagems such wives use to
save their husbands and their children
and-last of nll-themselyes, from going
to the dogs. And can Sunday be u day OF
rest to them with such breaker ahead
Why would 1t not be better II Friday were
made pay day, so that these people could
put away their earnings without this dan
gerous holding over for thirty odd hoursy
Or why not open the savings banks on
Sunday Has either plan been tried in
this city 2
As day comes on and the city begins To
wake up, the stragglers into the bank give
way to II procession. a curious assortment
Of persons forms the line that, beginning
at the grated window marked Receiving
Teller, ~ stretches down the length OF the
Office, curves to the left, in the form OF n
horseshoe, and doubling back extends be
yond the starting point into the lobby
lTOln WHICH IL Is leu. lulS iODDy TERMINUS
one of the hopper In an old fashioned
country grist mill. With their blue bank
books in hand the people crowd into the
small place, twisting in and out, through
and between, pushing and squeezing this
way and that way, elbowing their neigh
bors, and finally catching on TO the line
of march In precisely the same manner
as the corn in the hopper finds its way
to the jaws Of the millstones. lance at
the line as it slowly pays out OF the hop
per and files by the grated window. See
the old woman, now nervously %fumbling
In the pocket Of her too shiny alpaca
dress for u few coins to make up the
dollar she has come to deposit. Savings
Of IA week, Yesterday she went without
dinner and fire rather than rob herself of
one penny. She must have worn that
emnan of II bonnet for ten years, judging
by its looks. Her shoes-you couldn I call
them shoes; they are patches of old leather
sewn together somewhat in the shape of
shoes. Stockings Why you can see the
skin OF her foot through the broad seam.
dol
lar; all right says the teller. He makes
II few figures in her book and hands it
back to her. The little, slender figure il
unc-eremoniously pushed on by the revolv-
ing unwindiug process going ON in the
hopper, and the next person in line appears
face to face with the teller.
Next comes on u woman of middle age,
ny ,"ot'' II ".onue' ll'Sn unu ,"lr' no"
VI snoi' 10. w nnu "linAieu, 'he
"p3 ~ i"'N ,us'ei eSc So common IN per
''u7 VIM "''""S :" """' ""s '"iVis ~
vnicu' eNen III uehloo'"'lV -Nhlerica, inc
uh'Ilp "l w " ",..n an
nope VI n"PIiness ione slnce ne" ohe nus
seen pe',or my, Sne nna,Iieu pele"'h n'r
anu ncr husp"hu uruggeu her uo"h' 100
n.c no" " Iise' "na iout u r.
WroVhcu. No'nins 70 nv U puo ucn'n,
n"V 'oi ""o,n "slns up 'n"'' "ones
cue ENes III 'enr Sonle ho'e7 UNI ne
eoun,s mem ou,' ~ u h9pper erlhps
IN shcIs ior'e" "si'e "n" disappears III
u s'ie'''
Inc next person Ill the line Is IA Young
girl' evidently sent by her mother 10
inake II deposit ahe gives no INDICATION
OF the circumstances OF her iahhily, though
any one may see ny her uhtluy dress mat
ne' hl"'her' DC she coHiortaole OF needy,
~ a. careless sort OF person VINO uoesn I
p'lleNc m 'he next thlhS 10 Souilhess'
behlnu the gnl IL u man Whon you
would take TO DE II miser, SIMPLY because
pf ms repulsiVe appearance. lie Il about
nVe ieet iour incnes' ana carries between
MS ~shouluer pianes IL hump that uwarlS
anu Stops MN causes ms heck TO seem
ihuoh shorter thah II ~ ana pushes Ills
heau forward 10 an angle OF A. degs., so
thht IL Is ho, easy ,or nm 10 raise MS
eyes TO look straight before NM lie car
RES a walking SUCK ana you may easily
imagine that ms room IN some Houston
street garret Is tue apoue oil cats ana
SNAKES ma II crow OF Two III whose com
pailoNsnlp ne Hhus Whht ne lmHRines ~